Bentonville Wife-Killer Gets 35 Years After Pleading Guilty

Share this:

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

Bentonville Wife-Killer Gets 35 Years After Pleading Guilty

The Bentonville man who gunned down his wife before turning the gun on himself in 2012 pleaded guilty Friday in a deal with local prosecutors, and received a 35-year sentence.

Perry Davis was arrested Nov. 8, 2012, on suspicion of capital murder and kidnapping. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of first-degree murder and kidnapping. Davis was sentenced to 35 years in prison, and must serve 70 percent of that time until he is eligible for parole, said Stuart Cearley, deputy Benton County prosecutor.

Davis is now blind because of the injuries he suffered after shooting himself in the head, authorities said. He pleaded not guilty in December 2012 to the charges against him. He was scheduled to begin his murder trial April 15 in Benton County Circuit Court, Cearley said.

The suspect was arrested after spending three months hospitalized in Bentonville, Fayetteville and Little Rock, recovering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head after shooting and killing Kelly Davis on Aug. 19, 2012, police and hospital officials said.

Police had been waiting for Davis to recover before officially arresting him.

Police said Davis fatally shot his 44-year-old wife in the couple’s home at 804 S.W. Ouachita Drive in Bentonville.

SWAT teams and police lined the street before entering the home following the shooting.

Kelly was dead at the scene. Davis was rushed to Northwest Medical Center in Bentonville and later transferred to Washington Regional Medical Center. Davis was later taken to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences hospital in Little Rock, where he was in critical condition before later recovering.

Mz. Pat

No one knows what goes on behind closed doors. How can you call this man a animal when you don’t even know him? There are times people do things that is really out of character and I know for a fact that this is not his character. Please talk what you know.